Resumen

This paper proposes a climatic index to estimate the wind erosion risk based upon physical laws that quantify the effect of environment's aggression (atmospheric turbulence) on system resistance (soil texture). This index is obtained as a function of standard meteorological observations including the alteration of the wind profile produced by the presence of soil particles in the air and it is expressed in terms of the probability for the wind power to exceed the threshold conditions. Although this index was obtained for dry and bare soil, it may mean an advance towards a more general model for risk evaluation if other factors intervening in soil resistance, such as soil humidity, organic material content, land cover and use are included. This model has been used to evaluate the spatial distribution of the wind erosion risk in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina.